GunthorpeSt John the Baptist

History

There is no mention of a church or chapel at Gunthorpe in Domesday Book, though
the parish registers of Lowdham the mother church,
that began in 1559, do record that there was a “Chappell” at Gunthorpe
at least four hundred years ago. Gunthorpe was a Chapel of Ease of the Parish
of St Mary the Virgin at Lowdham. In an indenture in the reign of Queen
Elizabeth I, it was called the Chapel of St James and was in the centre
of the village. Parishioners were allowed to get married and have their children
baptised there but burials were always conducted in the parish church. Two marriages
are specifically mentioned which occurred in 1583 and 1590, and 58 baptisms
were recorded as having taken place in the chapel between 1598 and 1590. After
this date the records put the Parish Church and the two chapelries of Gunthorpe
and Caythorpe together.

The chapel does not seem to have been well supported. It suffered from vandalism
and theft and in 1512 it is recorded that it lost ‘a gilded paten, a cross,
two candlesticks, two large bells and a sacring bell’. In 1613 the church
wardens were charged with not looking after the church. It was said that ‘the
leads of the chappell are all blowen up, the windows are broken and the wales
wante beutifying and pointinge.’ This was the fate of many churches during
the post-Reformation period. Very few marriages took place in the chapel at
this time according to the Parish Registers.

In May 1616 it was recorded that ‘Jane East the wife of Thomas East of
Gunthorpe within the parishe of Lowdham hatte for the space of two yeares laste
paste or theare abouts sitten stood and kneeled to heare divine service in the
Chappell of Gunthorpe in the highest place or roome of a forme seate or pewe
which is the next forme to the Chappell dore Westward on the South side of the
said Chappel. Alice Kempe wife of Henrie of Kempe of Gunthorpe since Easter
laste hath seated herself in the same place and not suffered the said Jane to
sitte in the same seate.’ This matter was taken to court and the finding
of the judge was that as Thomas East had paid more towards the upkeep of the
"Chappel" Alice should do nothing to prejudice the said Jane East.

The state of the chapel became worse. It was presented in the archdeacon’s
court as being out of repair in both 1661 and 1680.

By the end of the seventeenth century services were only held once a fortnight
and communion three times a year. Gradually these services were discontinued.

In 1728 Thomas Fisher and Thomas Wroth the church wardens made complaints to
the archdeacon about the vicar, the Rev Samson Gilbert. It was stated that
although the parish church at Lowdham was only a mile and a half away, Gunthorpe
people could not claim seats there. He was not conducting the services he had
promised and had been paid for. Eighteen months later, on 22 June 1730,
John Bruen was instituted as vicar. He soon complained to the Archbishop that
he could not eke out his living due to the smallness of his stipend and had
to take on other outside work as curate at Screveton. By the end of the eighteenth
century the chapel had closed altogether and John Throsby records it as becoming
a blacksmith’s shop at a later date. To-day there is a building on the
site called Farriers Cottage

Gradually the abandoned church fell into disrepair and the villagers helped
themselves to the stone. (In 1936 an appeal was made for the return of these
stones which were in neighbouring gardens. The plan was to reassemble them in
the churchyard of the present church as a memorial to the old chapel. There
are a few stones in the churchyard which may have come from this earlier chapel.
The stone is said to have come from Yorkshire. A cottage built opposite the
site of the old chapel has foundations which are thought to have come from the
derelict building. The Thoroton Society Transactions of 1931 record
that the great bell of the old Nottingham Exchange (demolished 1926) “seems
to have come from a disused chapel at Gunthorpe”.)

In 1842 John Henry
Browne, a young and dynamic priest became vicar. He came to a parish which
was very run down. The main church of St Mary was in poor repair and services were held in the National School. His first
task was to oversee the repair of the parish church. With regard to Gunthorpe
he realised that the journey to Lowdham was difficult especially in the winter
and he began to raise money for a Chapel of Ease to be built in the village.
He appealed for help by public subscription. The Lord of the Manor, Peter Broughton
gave a piece of vacant land which was further up the main street and Earl Manvers,
the lay Rector, gave £200 towards the cost of building. It is recorded
that the total cost of rebuilding was £518.

T C Hine, one of Nottingham’s best known 19th century architects,
designed the building. It was one of his earliest commissions.

Building started in 1849 and was finished in 1850. It was described as a neat
little church of Bulwell stone, corniced with stone from Little Eaton. It
was of simple design with a chancel, a nave and a belfry with a single bell. Mr J Francklin of
Gonalston Hall gave the stained glass window and
Lady Manvers of Thoresby Hall donated a silver communion service.

There were open pews intended to seat 120 people and music was played on a
harmonium. The Church was opened in 1850 by a service taken by Archdeacon Wilkins.
The church was crowded and the collection taken was £11.

Drawing of the
church before the
modern additions

By the 1930s changes were being made. The church was getting increasingly draughty
and a fabric fund was instituted to pay for repairs. Gaps were stopped up between
the walls and the roof and the leaded windows were repaired. The curate the
Rev T Martin built a lobby.

On 19 July 1936 a children’s corner was created. It was to the right
of the main door and included the font. The
congregation provided a beautiful oak table and chairs, put up partitions and
pictures, and made a rug. Two brass candlesticks were given and a book donated
by Dr Billington who was a missionary in China and had lived at Gunthorpe at
one time.

The boiler was still a problem due to the fact that it got flooded in winter.
On 14 March 1937 services were cancelled because there was water in the
stoke hole and the fire could not be lit. In 1960 overhead heaters were installed
and the boiler at last made redundant.

In the 1970s the harmonium was replaced by a pipe organ,
and the church was finally licensed for marriages.

In the 1990s a special appeal was launched to raise
funds to extend the building. A meeting area, vestry corner and toilet were
installed. The new addition was dedicated to the memory of Michele Hough who
had been a long-standing member of the congregation and had recently died. February
2000 was the 150th anniversary of the foundation of St John’s and
church members stitched a special commemorative banner to mark the occasion.

In 2001 more building activity took place. The Bishop
of Southwell opened the new church room, kitchen extension and storeroom. This
has given additional space for social functions and a robing room for the choir.

In 1993 Gunthorpe became a parish in its own right and became independent of
the Mother Church of Lowdham although it exercised
a joint ministry.